Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

Hope you are enjoying plenty of happy little ghouls tonight. We've has a few more than usual and it's fun!

Took some more pictures of the kittens and their Mom on a new cat tree we got just for them. They roar up and down it like squirrels! (Remember to click on the pictures for a bigger view.)

Chloe & Poppie



Tavi & Zoe



All the girls.



Zoe watching Mom act silly with the camera.



Chloe preparing to leap.



Still knitting on this green Aran for Alex. The body uses 3 charts, each a different length, and chunks of seed stitch at the sides. I need more row counters!



That's all for now. Twice in one month! Wow!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

OMG! It's OCTOBER!!!

Here I am, catching up again. *sigh* Someone who reads my blog needs to rattle my cage once a month and maybe I would do better. It's really hard to put down my knitting! But when a reader lets me know she just looked at all the same project pics again I am truly chagrinned and must try to make up for my single mindedness.

Ok, what has happened since February? Let me think...

We gave my son (David) Alex's little catamaran that has been in sister (Alex's) Mary's garage for over 30 years. David came up from Los Angeles to dig it out of the garage and tow it home and restore it. He's been having a lovely time with it.







That yellow blankie I frogged? I decided to design my own, in soft red yarn. The trouble with designing as you knit is making changes, making it better, ripping back to the changes and reknitting. I couldn't see where changes needed to be made until I had knitted past the area. Hard to explain, but it worked and the recipient loved it. Expectant Mom/next door neighbor who I watched grow up from a tot. Gave it to her on her birthday, which happens to also be my birthday.





Sometime in March we had a big storm and a scrawny, dripping wet kitten washed up on our porch and, naturally, we took it in. Alex was positive it was a male and so we thought the very sore looking area on its tushi was a not-very-well-done job of neutering. We named it Tavish which is a male name for a Scottish redhead. (Orange striped tabby) After a few weeks Tavish started to look lumpy and had a growling fit whenever anyone tried to touch below the waist. I told Alex I thought Tavish was a she and pregnant at that. This kitten was no more than 6 months old when we took her in. She must've just been ravished before she got to us. The lumps grew and grew and started rolling around and I was worried about their little mother giving birth. On May 13th my worries came true. After 2 hours of hard labor she had only delivered one tiny back paw and the tip of a tail. Mom was too little and the baby was breech. Off to the vet where 6 babies were delivered by cesarian section. The vet said we had 2 boys and 4 females.

Tavi's first day with us.


Tavi & babies at 2 weeks.


At 4 weeks...


The little dark striped girl in front, yawning is Zoe. On the left front is Li'l Fuzzy, the only male. He went to live with a tall, handsome young man just home from college. He is called Calcifer now. The one behind him is LittleBit who went to live with my nephew when he came home from a long stay in the hospital. Next to her (the smallest) is Tawny (the biggest of the shorthairs) who went with IttyBit to live with my nephew. Next to her is Poppie and behind her is Chloe. Zoe, Chloe & Poppie all stayed here to live with us.



Eventually they started escaping to wobble around my knitting room and it wasn't really safe for them. So we moved them into the bathroom and put a big flat box across the door. There was kitten food, water and a litterbox in there so Tavi could teach them and they would be safe. The first one to get over the door box would free them all.



This was their first cat tree (in the bathroom).



This is Chloe at 2 months...



This is Poppie... For a while she was called Howie and was going to be adopted. When we all found out he was a she the adopter left in a huff and hasn't spoken to me since. Their loss! Poppie is an adorable little girl who loves my lap. So there!



This is Calcifer in his new home, making new friends.



This is Poppie today, and 2 bad pics of Chloe and Zoe. (New camera.)







Tavi loves to play with her girls and is finally putting on weight, but she will never be any bigger than she is now, I don't think. Her babies are almost as big as she is. She's a spectacular mom! She let them nurse until just a few weeks ago. She would actually call them! Now when they sneak up on her looking for a snack she just sits on them. LOL!

This is Alex doing docent duty at the Golden State Bonsai garden by Lake Merritt in Oakland. He does at least 1 day a month.



This is my Great Grandfather Stark's house in Joplin. I haven't found out yet if it survived the tornado.



Ok, back to knitting. This is for my Mom but needs to be blocked.



This is Flappy the Flounder, knitted for little James next door on his 2nd birthday.




This is a cardie I started for myself then put on hold to work on gifts. It is knit of sock yarn.





I got sidetracked working on this for a gift for Alex. It's counted and tiny! My old eyes needed a break so I went back to knitting. I'm still trying to finish the kitten! Maybe next year.



This is a onsie for a new baby coming in August. James' little brother next door. Presented at the baby shower. It has tiny little snaps in the crotch.



This is a gift for one of my nieces. It needs blocking and buttons.





This is a snuggly afghan for my brother. My niece will be jealous but she will get a nice one next year.



This is a jacket/cardie for another niece. The yarn is pure silk and a royal pain to knit with. But the color is perfect.




And right now I'm working on an Aran for Alex. I'm not far enough along yet for pictures but soon. I'm using a strand of worsted and a strand of DK in the same colorway (Tidepool Heather) held together to get the Aran gauge. The DK is slightly lighter in color which adds to the heathered effect, to me anyway. Any of you out there can follow the project on Ravelry as I shared it to the public.

http://ravel.me/gmcknits/aafa

So yes, I've been busy! But I am definitely behind.

My granddaughter Judy graduated from high school, turned 18 and seems to have just vanished. She was living with her mother and brother in one room at her aunt's. She should've been living with her father in my humble opinion but the idiot judge thought different and only let her be with her Dad and half brother every now and then. So now, hopefully, she is in college, maybe staying with her long time boyfriend (who lives with his parents and goes to college) and will eventually get back in contact with us. I sure miss her!

Alex just celebrated his 76th birthday. I gave him a nostalgic theater style popcorn maker. Best popcorn maker we've had in years! Keep throwing popcorn in the kettle and it keeps popping and overflowing into the bin. Very cool!

So now it's time for me to go to bed and I've only knitted one round on the Aran. But it feels good to get this done and off my conscious finally. Love and good knitting to all my readers! All 3 of them! :o)

Friday, February 25, 2011

What? And put down my Knitting???

Well folks, this has gotten to be another bad habit, hasn't it? Every time I do one of these catch-up posts I promise myself I won't let the time pass so much again. But this habit has extensions. Like showering, eating, laundry & vacuuming. What? And put my knitting down??? Other devoted knitters know what I mean, as do quilters. :o)

So, what's been happening since September? Good grief! September!!! I used the excuse that Christmas was coming and I didn't want anyone to peek so I couldn't post. Let me look at my pictures for the blog...

Patchwork vest for Greg. The back...



The front...



He brought it back in January so I could add side panels because it was just too tight. I was thrilled! He needs to come and get it while it is still cold enough to wear it!

Started a Christmas dress for me from a sweater called Bellissima. Next Christmas maybe?



Remember to click on the pictures for a bigger, better view.

A little Wormie for Sweet Baby James next door. He calls it his Snakie.



Crochet beaded bracelets for SIL Mary.




Cabled mittens for grandson Brandon, modeled by Alex...




Patchwork vest for Alex...




Diagonal Lace cardi for niece Laura...




Mitered Vest for SIL Maria...




Baseball cap for nephew Seth...



Eyelet lace pullover for niece Mary...




Potholders for DIL Jenny...



And SIL Mary...



Lace Jacket for granddaughter Judy...




And then it was Christmas!



We got lots of goodies and everyone was happy! I got a huge book on silk, a Lego set for Harry Potter/Quiddich (from sweet nephew Seth), a beautiful Blue Willow vase, a bunch of DVDs and too much more. Dinner was ham and was very early for us. But Seth had to go to work early. (Some people take advantage of developmentally challenged but very loyal people IMHO.) But we had a wonderful time! The only problem I had was that I didn't finish nephew Alec's vest on time. He hinted at what he wanted at Thanksgiving dinner.



My Son David came up from Los Angeles to take Alex's old 11 foot catamaran out of Mary's garage and back to LA. It had been in there for 35 years and we were all very happy to have it out of there and put back to use. David is restoring it and eager to sail it. The first day my son Matt came from Hayward to visit us and help out with digging the boat out of the garage. It was a wonderful visit!






Started a baby blanket for a new one coming to my neighbor in August. But I decided it was too elaborate for a baby and frogged it. Next time I start it will be for me to keep and will be larger.



SIL Mary's birthday is coming and she is involved in Eastern Star and Rainbow Girls. So this shawlette is for her. It needs blocking but soon!



This is from the Sock Yarn One Skein book and I used one skein of Knit Picks Chroma. Even had a few yards left over! I have another on the needles in a colorway called Grape Arbor for a person who like dark, muddy earth colors. No pics yet!

And lastly, we lost our 2 oldest cats, Sammy & Penny, brother & sister. They passed over the rainbow bridge a week apart of old age (21) and we miss them very much.

Sammy



Penny




I am trying very hard to stay away from kittens. My friend Lois in Canada found a kitten in the street and I have been keeping a scrapbook on the computer of her growing up. Her name is Bitsy and she is my vicarious kitten. LOL!







Tonight we are expecting snow down to sea level here for the first time since the 70s. I'm so excited!!!